


Staying In

by Forget_About_Me



Series: The TARDIS' Indulgences [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alien Biology, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, BAMF Martha Jones, But it's pretty lowkey, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Desperation, Embarrassment, Exploring the TARDIS, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, Ice Skating, Innuendo, Inside the TARDIS (Doctor Who), Interfering TARDIS, Interspecies Romance, Light Angst, Martha Jones Deserves Better, Martha Jones Is a Star, Meddling TARDIS, Omorashi, Picnics, Pre-Relationship, Rated for safety, Romantic Fluff, Sentient TARDIS, Suggestive Themes, TARDIS Rooms, The TARDIS Ships It (Doctor Who), The TARDIS is a kinky thing, Walking In On Someone, mentioned - Freeform, this was supposed to be short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:21:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25478347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forget_About_Me/pseuds/Forget_About_Me
Summary: Everyone knows that the universe has a lot of beautiful things to offer, especially if you own a ship that can travel everywhere and everywhen.But sometimes, nothing beats staying home. Especially if your home is one sentient (and very cheeky) time ship.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Martha Jones
Series: The TARDIS' Indulgences [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747087
Comments: 18
Kudos: 18
Collections: Interesting Living Arrangemens





	1. Not Telling

**Author's Note:**

> **This fic contains Omorashi in chapter 2 and implicit in chapter 3, if this is not your cup of tea, don't read**  
>    
> Whoohoo, it's fic time.  
> This is the fic that covers the incident that I mentioned in "I'm Better Than You", which in turn refers to something from "Re-establishing".  
> It isn't necessary to have read either of them as this is a stand-alone fic. I think it might actually be fun to read this without having read "Re-establishing" first. Since this introduces the concept I introduced there in a different way, namely from Martha's perspective.
> 
> So yeah, this fic turned into a Ten/Martha fluff-fest, instead of the short-ish omo fic that just covers the incident I hinted at. I kinda got carried away during the set-up part of the fic. Which originally at most should've just been the last part of chapter 1. but instead spans over 2 chapters now. Which means that the introduction is now bigger than the main part of the fic. Which is no longer the main part tbh. 
> 
> If you have been in my discord you might've gotten my frustration about trailing off a bit. Honestly, I've been pretty stuck writing this fic.
> 
> There are 2 different sub-plots I ended up deleting because it was simply becoming too long/ I was writing myself stuck. I might address them both later on in a bonus chapter 4. Both of them are fluff-ish. And I've hinted at both of them in the actual fic (though I doubt you could guess them).
> 
> Anyway, just enjoy I guess.

“They just had to do that, didn’t they? Why do you always bring me to places like this?” Martha grumbled as she followed the Doctor into the TARDIS.

After managing to solve the planet-wide disease affecting all the cacao beans on Klorados, preventing the chocolate worshipping planet from a chocolate crisis. According to The Doctor, it would be disastrous if the inhabitants didn’t have access to chocolate, their species apparently being dependent on some of the unique properties of chocolate.

Naturally, the locals had been immensely thankful that their chocolate crisis had been solved, and they had thanked the two travellers earnestly.

It always made her a bit uncomfortable when they got thanked so profoundly, but she knew that it was even worse for The Doctor, he seemed ready to run a mile every time someone was even remotely thankful. No matter how justified.

Regardless of how it made her feel, she never begrudged the locals for being grateful, to them it often was a very special thing they, mostly The Doctor, had done for them. She understood the want of the locals to thank them.

That didn’t mean that she appreciated it when the happy Klodarians drenched them in liquid chocolate.

_ While she wore her favourite white blouse. _

No, she didn’t appreciate that in the slightest.

She had wanted to blow up about it, berate the ones that had carried out the deed.

However, she recognized that she had to take the gesture as it had been intended, so she had swallowed her anger and tried to enjoy the festivities. Or at the very least pretended to.

The anger needed to come out anyway though, and on their way back from the settlement to the TARDIS, her travel companion was the only possible target.

She knew she wasn’t completely fair to him, it wasn’t his fault they got drenched. But at that moment he was just a convenient target. Besides, she had no doubt that he could handle it.

* * *

The Time Lord turned to his companion. “Martha, it’s just chocolate.” Keeping his tone neutral, he recognized the signs of Martha’s anger, he had been on the receiving end of her outburst a few times before. He was perfectly aware that she wasn’t angry with him, just at the situation. It just was so much easier to be angry at someone instead of simmering while not able to do anything. He understood that, so he just let her have her outbursts.

“I’m never going to get this out of my clothes!” She held up her (previously) white blouse in demonstration. “You see this? It will never be white again. It's ruined!”

Whatever response she had been expecting, it probably hadn’t involved the smug smile he was currently spouting. “It isn’t ruined, Martha.”

She rounded on him. “How do you mean it isn’t  _ ruined _ !!” A dangerous undertone carrying in her voice. “Did you hit your head? Is that what’s causing you to spout such nonsense.”

He knew better than to rise to the bait.

“Really, it isn’t ruined. Don’t worry. The TARDIS is more than capable of getting that out. Trust me.”

Martha spluttered, being caught off guard by that statement. She obviously hadn’t even considered the existence of futuristic methods of getting clothes cleaned.

For a second he thought that she would argue she suddenly stormed off, leaving him to complete the take-off sequence on his own, while being careful not to get any chocolate on the console.

After they were in the vortex he left the console room to head to his bedroom, which let to his en suite.

He desperately needed a shower.

* * *

Feeling much better after her shower and the TARDIS’ confirmation that the alien man hadn’t lied about the ship being able to salvage her clothes Martha made her way towards the kitchen. 

They hadn’t been out for very long, only a couple of hours, it was barely lunchtime. She decided to have a quick lunch and then spend some time exploring the magnificent ship she was fortunate enough to call home.

The ship in question beamed happily at that thought, appreciating the compliment.

Martha shook her head fondly as she went about making toast, it was way too easy to please the ancient time ship.

_ She wouldn’t have it any other way. _

* * *

The TARDIS continued to amaze her. The last room she had been in had contained a beautiful beach which had tempted her to take out her swimsuit and enjoy a couple of hours on it. And now this room was a huge ice rink with cave-like walls made from ice.

She couldn’t help but look around in awe.

Sure The Doctor had shown her the most magnificent things of the universe. But with things like that she found herself suspecting that his ship was simply unparalleled.

“You’re allowed to go on the ice you know.” The Doctor’s voice startled her out of her thoughts. Turning around she saw him leaning against the door, wearing his blue suit, hair still damp from his own shower.

He was barely hiding an amused smile.

“I was just…” She started but trailed off not sure how that sentence was going to end.

“Well, whatever it was that you were doing, it made the TARDIS happy. She’s practically buzzing.” He slowly approached her.

Now that he mentioned it, she could feel the TARDIS happy buzz. She was certain some of it came from the mental praise she had just given the old Time ship, but she still wondered what had his ship in such a good mood.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” Martha started, genuinely feeling bad about that.

“That’s fine.” The alien just waved it away, completely unbothered about it. He stopped right in front of her, slightly invading her personal space, his face mere inches away from hers. “What do you say? Wanna go ice skating?” He almost whispered, grasping her hand.

It took her longer than she’d like to admit to process just what he had said. There was just something about the way in which he had said that.

Not quite trusting her voice she just nodded. When they had finally gone ice skating on Cuhlhan, a couple of days after he had originally suggested it, they both had a great time. If you asked her that was the best trip she’s had while being on the TARDIS and that was saying something.

At her agreement, he broke out into a smile. “Alright, stay here!” He instructed before sprinting out the room. 

Taking a couple of breaths to calm her erratic heart, she wondered what he was up to, but she had long since learned that his behaviour was unpredictable and that she would just have to go with it. Not that he was giving her much of a choice. She generally found out what he was up to within the next 5 minutes anyway. 

_ Whether she would approve of his actions was a different matter. _

Barely 2 minutes had passed when he came back into the room carrying two familiar pairs of ice skates. She was pretty sure that they were the ones they wore when they had visited Cuhlhan, which upon asking The Doctor confirmed.

The Time Lord guided her to a bench she hadn’t noticed before, she wouldn’t have put it past the TARDIS to have created it while her back was turned, to go and put on their skates.

After pulling on their skates, he helped her on the ice. She still wasn’t very good on skates.

“Let’s see how much you remember.”.

* * *

As it turned out after some initial problems keeping her balance, during which the Doctor stayed close just in case, Martha managed to skate around on her own almost smoothly. Though she’d never be as good as the Doctor.

Not long after Martha had found her bearing they had started to chase each other, trying to catch each other. Her travel companion was obviously holding back for her sake to make it fair, something she really appreciated.

This went on for a while with him easily staying out of her reach.

She squealed as she felt his arms close around her, signalling that he had finally decided to take the win.

“You’re getting good at this.” The Time Lord whispered in her ear.

“Not as good as you.” 

She could feel him smile. “Of course not, I got decades of experience. It’s not really comparable.”

“I know, but still.” She grabbed his hand. “It’s a bit discouraging to see you being so good while I am…”

“Still learning.” He supplied despite knowing full well that wasn’t what she was looking for. “Really, it isn’t fair to compare yourself against me. There are so many things I have no talent for but am good at just because I have done it a lot. I’d lie if I said that I have many talents.” The Time Lord rested his chin on her shoulder. “Honestly, I’m a below-average Time Lord. Though if anyone asks I’ll deny saying that.”

“Does that have anything to do with your rubbish driving?” She teased.

“I told you before, I failed the test.” He reminded her.

“Actually I was wondering about that. How do you get a TARDIS? She’s alive, so I doubt you would’ve bought her like I would buy a car.” Marta pondered.

“No. It errs… is a privilege to own a TARDIS.” He answered slightly hesitant. 

_ A bit too hesitant. _

“If it’s a privilege, how come you have one? Or isn’t passing your test a requirement for getting one?” Martha turned her head slightly to catch his gaze.

“Oh, it’s one of many requirements for getting even put on the waiting list for a TARDIS.” He broke eye contact, nervously fiddling with her shirt.

“So, since you obviously don’t fit the requirements. How come you own this TARDIS.” She paused slightly. “You do own her right?”

“I do own her now.” He confirmed. “TARDIS ownership is a bit different from what you might think.” Grabbing her hand lightly, he started to explain. “We telepathically bond with our TARDISes. Each TARDIS can have one main bonded. A telepathic bond between a TARDIS and its main bonded forms slowly over several years. Ownership of a TARDIS is not determined until that bond is formed. And it’s possible that the forming of such a bond fails. When you get picked off the waiting list for getting a TARDIS you really are just given a chance to get one. There is a pretty high failure rate for the bonds. But once a bond is formed it’s virtually unbreakable. Well, it technically could be done but it’s against the law. Breaking a bond like that is a horrible thing to do.”

“You got that bond with the TARDIS, right?” Martha suspected. “That bond is what decides the ownership of the TARDIS.”

“Yeah. I sort of ended up bonding with her while actually having no right to so.” He looked a bit sheepishly. 

“So how did you end up with the chance to do that?” She asked the Time Lord.

He hesitated for a few seconds, obviously reluctant to tell her. 

“Doctor?”

“I borrowed her.” He eventually admitted.

Martha rose an eyebrow. “Didn’t you just say it took years to develop a bond like that.”

“Yeah.” He answered hesitantly, before quickly changing the subject before she could respond. “So how about we do a little race. First one to pass that rectangular rock wins.” 

It was obvious what he was doing, but Martha let him, he had all but answered her question, after all. There was no need for him to explicitly tell her. So instead of confronting him about it, she just smiled, deciding to go with it, before breaking away from his embrace. Getting a head-start on the impromptu race, she needed all the advantages she could get if she wanted to win from him.

_ And then he would still need to hold back. _

After a few seconds, she could hear him follow her, but she didn’t look back to check. Focusing on wining was more important.

The Time Lord didn’t overtake her before she crossed the indicated finish line. After a quick glance she confirmed that he was indeed still behind her, she let out a cheer in celebration turning around to face him with a smile on her face. 

“That was cheating.” He tried to look at her sternly but failed to keep the smile from his face.

She just stuck her tongue out to him, and he responded in kind.

“I think we’ve had enough of the ice, yeah?” He looked questioningly at his companion.

“Yeah, it’s starting to become less fun.” Martha agreed.

* * *

After taking off their skates, not bothering with shoes as they were on the TARDIS, they decided to see what else his magnificent ship had to offer.

They passed the swimming pool, a room she definitely was going back too someday. Next was the wardrobe room, they had briefly considered browsing through his collection, but they concluded rather quickly that they were too tired after all the skating from earlier. Instead, they made a promise to examine its contents later. 

They had all the time in the world, after all.

“Ah, the art gallery,” The Doctor exclaimed as they opened the door. “I thought I lost it.” He said as he examined one of the pieces, before launching in a detailed explanation of just what he was looking at. 

At least, that was until Martha rather pointedly told him that she wasn’t in the mood for an art lecture before pulling him out of the room.

The fourth room they came across was, well…

“What is this room?” She asked the Time Lord as she was taking it in. 

It was a non-descriptive room. She hadn’t been aware the TARDIS was capable of creating such a white room. It almost felt like a clinical room. 

There wasn’t any furniture behind a small white table with a matching chair.

Besides the table, there were two more noteworthy things.

The first thing was some sort of metal panel located on the west wall. It had a handle, suggesting you could open it by pulling down.

Deciding that she wanted to see what it was she did that, discovering that behind the door was an empty compartment, which obviously could be used for storage. 

Closing the panel again she moved towards the other anomaly. At first, she had thought it was just some decoration, it was outlined with a black rectangle. The thing itself seemed to have the same base colour as the wall. Without the rectangle there she probably would’ve missed that it was there.

At the bottom, there was a small rectangular hole which she guessed could be used to pull whatever it was from the wall. 

When she tried to pull the thing, she got no movement out of it, making her doubt her initial guess. That was until she noticed the keyhole located on the right side.

_ Whatever it was, it was locked. _

“Doctor?” She tried, turning towards him when she realized he still hadn’t answered her question and probably wasn’t going to without more prompting.

His head shot towards her. “Huh?”

“What is this room for?” Martha repeated, with a frown.

“Oh, uhhh…” He looked away, looking around the room a bit too intently if you asked her. “Well…” The Time Lord seemed to be thinking his answer through. “I don’t know.” He finished lamely.

Martha rose a sceptical eyebrow. “You don’t know?”

“Yeah, no idea. Never seen this room before.” He claimed, obviously lying.

She narrowed her eyes at him, noticing that he was blushing. Obviously, he didn’t want to share.

“Okay, do you know what that is?” Martha nodded towards the black rectangle.

The Doctor frowned. “I told you I don’t know what this room is.” 

Crossing her arms she told him. “So you not knowing what a room is for means you can’t know what the things contained in the room are either?”

“Err...” He flushed. “I don’t know what that thing is.” 

_ Oh, he definitely knows what it is _ Martha thought to herself but decided against pressing the issue.

Whatever he used this room for seemed to be something he wanted to keep private and there was no obvious reason on why it couldn’t stay that way. Except for her curiosity, but really she could sacrifice that for the sake of his privacy. 

No matter how bad she wanted to know what that thing in the wall was.

So instead of confronting him, she just nodded. “Very well then. Shall we continue to the next room?” She suggested.

She was sure she didn’t imagine the sigh of relief that her alien friend let out as she dropped it.

* * *

The Doctor wasn’t stupid. It was obvious that Martha hadn’t believed him.

When he had seen that his stubborn ship had shown  _ their _ puzzle room as he and Martha explored the corridors, his hearts had dropped to his stomach.

Martha couldn’t know about that particular activity of his.

_ It was private _ .

Besides, she wouldn’t approve of it. He enjoyed it, even though he technically had no say in it.

_ Now that wasn’t true.  _

The TARDIS wouldn’t do anything the participants would be dead set against. There was always consent.

_ It just wasn’t always explicit.  _

Why his ship had decided to show her this room was beyond him, why would the TARDIS want Martha to know about  _ that _ ?

When Martha inevitably started asking about the function of the room he had at first pretended to not hear her, hoping she would magically forget that she wanted to know.

_ Yeah, no chance. _

As expected Martha realized that he hadn’t answered her question and asked again.

This time he outright lied, he couldn’t just ignore her twice, and he definitely didn’t want her to know the truth of the room.

Martha being Martha saw straight through his lie. He had held his breath as he waited for her to speak, trying to figure out how he was going to get out of telling the truth.

_ Maybe I can say that I have repairs to do and leave before she can force it out of me.  _

That plan was as good as any, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Except when Martha started to talk it wasn’t to call him out for his lie, it was to accept it.

Not expecting that he stared at her for a few seconds before letting out a sigh of relief as he realized that she was letting him keep the room’s function a secret.

He wasn’t sure why she would do that, but he wasn’t about to look a gifted horse in the mouth.

“Yeah, nothing interesting here.” He agreed.

_ At least not right now. _


	2. Controlled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this chapter is completely unnesesarry for this story. But yeah I got carried away. I'm sure you can forgive me.

“Honestly, is there anything that you don’t have on this ship?” Martha wondered as they left the petting zoo. 

All animals had either been adopted by the TARDIS at one point in their travels or had been born from those who were.

Martha wasn’t sure how a ship could adopt animals, but she doubted she’d get a straight answer from the Doctor, so she didn’t ask. The animals looked happy and healthy enough, not that she was expecting anything else from the ancient time ship.

“Well,” He started but then frowned, trying to think of something to name. “Errm…Oh! Concerts!” The Time Lord perked up. “Can’t simulate those. There is something special about watching someone live, that you just can’t recreate. Many have tried but it’s just impossible.”

“Right, so we’ll be going to a concert next?” Martha wondered earning a smile.

“Oh, now  _ that _ ’s a good idea.”

“Didn’t think you’d ever need me for ideas.” She commented as they reached the next door.

“Oi, I’m perfectly capable of thinking of places to go on my own!”

“Keep telling yourself-” Martha froze as she opened the door. “that…”

The room that caused her pause had a lot of shelves, containing many things. Some things she didn’t recognize and several things she definitely did.

However, the main thing that had caught her eye was a display stand located directly in front of the door. 

Proudly displaying a lot of fake …  _ Ahem. _

“A bit kinky.” She breathed out.

“Yeah.” He drawled out the word. “A bit.”

“These yours then?” Martha nodded at the  _ interesting decorated  _ shelf, turning her head to look at him.

“Everything on this ship is mine.” He seemed to be blushing. “Doesn’t mean I actively collected everything that you can find in here, mind.” 

She smirked slightly and couldn’t help but tease him. “So have you ever used these?”

The Time Lord flushed.

“Errm, no not… particularly.” He rubbed his neck, obviously feeling uncomfortable.

“Not particularly? What does that mean?” She smiled innocently.

“Martha!” He whined, wishing her to stop.

Letting out a chuckle “No okay, I don’t want to know.”

They looked around the room a bit longer.

“Seriously though, what is the purpose of this room? Is it the place to go if you want to  _ do  _ something  _ pleasurable? _ ” Martha glanced at her alien friend.

“Something like that.” He squeaked out, before clearing his throat. “I think you can see this as a bit of a supply… closet.” 

“Bit big for a closet.” Martha quipped.

“Oh, you get the point!”

* * *

“Why do you have a professional kitchen?” Martha asked as she walked around said kitchen, which was insanely big. And she suspected never used. It was a bit of a weird find. Though she doubted anything would beat the last room anytime soon.

The Time Lord shrugged. “Passing fancy?”

“Of whom?” She turned to him.

“I don’t know.”

* * *

Eventually, they stumbled upon the garden, if you could call it that, where the TARDIS provided them with a nice picnic basket containing food things appropriate for dinner.

They laid the blanket on the side of a beautiful lake, at the bottom of a small hill, before unloading the basket they had been given.

Martha was pleasantly surprised when the food items were still warm, well the ones that were supposed to be warm. The TARDIS had made sure that their picnic turned into a proper dinner, which they both appreciated.

As they were enjoying the food Martha couldn’t help but appreciate their surroundings, this had to be at least in the top 5 of the best places to eat dinner.

“We should do this more often.” She said as she finished her sorbet.

The Time Lord hummed in agreement as he took a bite of his own sorbet. “Yeah, this is nice.”

* * *

After they had finished eating they stayed there for a bit, enjoying the calmness of his garden for a bit longer. Both of them had stretched out on the blanket, and she somehow had ended up snuggled into his side with her head on his chest. 

Listening to his double heartbeat was surprisingly soothing.

She was only slightly surprised that he actually allowed this. He kept changing his tune, one moment he was strangely affectionate while the next moment he was as cold as ice. During the first weeks, he had almost ignored her, but then sometime after the incident with the sun, he had surprised her by being surprisingly sweet to her. Almost spoiling her.

It had been a great day, and she had thought it had been a turning point in their relationship.

Of course, with him, it wasn’t that simple.

The next day he had been back to giving her the same old cold shoulder, so she had just decided that it had been a one time fluke and had moved on.

Except, a few weeks later he had been in a similar mood, suddenly giving her an almost uncomfortable amount of attention. Though she hadn’t complained.

The next day she hadn’t been as surprised when he had gone back to his old self again.

This mood of him popped up every now and then after that, with increasing frequency.

Part of her had wanted to confront him about his behaviour, trying to figure out what was going on his head. But she had slowly realized that what she was seeing in those moments was the real him.

Well at least a more real version of him, he was still hidden below countless layers.

She was sure the closest she had ever seen him to his real self was when his body seemed to have failed him, or he had failed his body more likely, she had quickly learned that was something that really distressed him. Though he was pretty good at hiding it, she would still see a different side of him.

She shifted slightly to get more comfortable in his embrace when she abruptly became aware of an overwhelming pressure between her legs. 

Martha failed to hold back a gasp as the state of her bladder fully registered.

This caused the Doctor to pull his neck up and look at her, concern washing over his features. “Martha. What’s wrong?”

Whimpering slightly she snuggled closer to the Time Lord.

“I just suddenly really need the loo.” She decided to be honest, he was going to find out anyway when she made a dash for one later.  _ Well, maybe not later. _

“Right.” He considered it. “Go on then.” The Time Lord nudged her as she made no move to get up. 

Sighing she pushed herself up to a sitting position before bending over with a gasp as her bladder complained at the movement.

“Martha!?” She could hear the concern in his voice. He sat up next to her.

“God! I gotta go.” Martha groaned.

He moved into a crouching position next to her, ready to help. “Can you stand up?”

She nodded hesitantly, not entirely sure how she was going to manage it.

“Come on. Let me help.” He offered her his arms.

With him half lifting her Martha managed to get on her feet without any leakage. It was close though, and she had to take a couple of deep breaths as she clenched her muscles holding back what felt like way too much.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice sooner.” She gritted out.

“Come on, let’s just take care of it.” He carefully guided her back to the door of the garden. Something she was really grateful for as she wasn’t entirely sure she would’ve managed that on her own. Which he seemed to have sensed.

Really, for someone who normally could be so cold, well at least pretended to be, he could be surprisingly thoughtful. 

After they exited the garden he let her towards the bathroom. She honestly couldn’t remember the way they had walked, she had long since lost orientation. But right that moment that didn’t matter, her bladder was about to explode. Besides, she trusted him to know where they were.

The door closed behind them as soon as they entered the bathroom.

She was barely aware of him fighting with the now locked door as she rushed over to the toilet, not feeling capable of waiting any longer for relief.

After a quick struggle with her buttons, she dropped her jeans and panties before plopping down on the seat immediately releasing her bladder’s content.

* * *

The Doctor mentally cursed, wondering what his ship’s game was. Letting out a sigh he turned back around locking eyes with Martha.

_ OH! _

He felt a blush come up as he looked away to give her privacy. “Sorry”

As he was listening to her urine hitting the water in the toilet he was becoming aware of the fullness in his own bladder.

Shifting his weight he tried to alleviate the pressure a bit, there was no way he actually urgently needed to go already. If that was the case he would’ve noticed it way, way earlier. It was just a small need that was aggravated by being in the room here with Martha as she was relieving her bladder.

_ Nothing to worry about. _

Then he promptly doubled over as the need spiked, and he suddenly wasn’t so sure about his earlier assessment.

Suddenly it all had to come out like  _ now! _

His hand shot between his legs to fight the surprising amount of liquid that was trying to escape from him.

“Doctor?” Martha’s voice barely broke through the haze caused by his body’s sudden urgent demand.

He let out a whimper before looking up, he knew that some of the panic he felt was showing in his eyes. Feeling embarrassed about having found himself in this position, he quickly looked away to the floor again not feeling capable of maintaining eye contact. 

_ This was so embarrassing. _

“Why don’t you just go and find a bathroom for yourself?” She suggested. It wasn’t really a surprise that she had guessed what he needed.

“The door’s locked!” He whined marching in place.

“Right.” She considered this for a moment. “Then hold on a tick, I’m nearly done.”

He nodded, taking a deep breath focusing on holding it in.

When she was finally empty she quickly stood up, lifting her trousers in the process. Quickly moving away to make room for him, lifting the toilet seat for him, so he wouldn’t have to bother.

“Your turn.” She indicated as she buttoned her jeans back up.

At that, he shot towards the toilet, unzipping his trousers before quickly fishing himself out of his boxers.

He let out a sigh in relief as he relaxed his muscles. The resulting stream was surprisingly strong, he hadn’t really expected to be that full since the need had only just announced itself. Really, he had thought it to be a bit of a false alarm and that his bladder had only been moderately full, with his body just being a bit weird about the urges. That happened now and then after all.

Frowning at this discovery he shook himself dry before zipping his trousers back up.

After flushing the toilet he turned around to see Martha leaning against the counter spouting a concerned expression.

He slowly walked over towards her, so he could use the sink next to her to wash his hands. While trying to figure out what to do about the awkward silence that was now carrying between them. He wasn’t entirely sure why that was the case, they had peed in front of each other before. 

_ Multiple times. _

They had never been this uncomfortable afterwards, he wondered what made this different.

After drying his hands he rested them on the counter before slightly bending over trying to figure out what to say.

In the end, it was Martha who broke the silence.

“Well, that was…” She struggled with trying to describe what had just happened.

“Unexpected.” He finished for her.

“What happened, why did you hold it so long?” She wondered.

“Why did you?” He fired back, turning around settling himself next to her.

“I didn’t feel the need sooner.” She admitted.

He nodded. “Yeah, that.”

“Really, you too?” She looked in surprise at him.

“Yeah…” The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. “How about we go back to the garden?” He suggested.

* * *

“She sounds amused.” Martha pointed out from her perk on the Time Lords chest, who had been dozing, startling him awake again.

“Wha-” He opened one eye, fighting the sleep.

“The TARDIS, something amused her.” His companion explained

“Right,” He blinked away the sleep, still trying to figure out what she meant.

“Oh, I woke you up, didn’t I?” Martha realized. “Sorry, you can go back to sleep.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.” The Doctor exclaimed. “I was just, falling asleep.” He admitted.

“Same difference.” She mumbled into his chest. 

“I guess.” He ran his free hand through his hair, focusing on his ship, gauging her mood. “You’re right about her being amused, though.”

“Of course I am.” He could feel her smile against his shirt.

He let out a non-committal hum.“Wonder what caused that. There aren’t a lot of things that can put her in a mood like this. The main sort of things that amuse her like this is ar-” He froze as it clicked.

_ “Oh.” _

“It was the show we put up earlier, wasn’t it?” Martha spoke up sounding sure of her statement.

He was grateful that Martha wasn’t looking at him so wouldn’t notice his blush which he felt forming at the mention of what his ship liked. 

Honestly, he was a bit surprised that Martha had become so adept at reading his ship already.

“I think it was a bit more than that.” The Doctor admitted, feeling uncomfortable. This wasn’t something he particularly wanted to tell her.

“What else was it, then?” 

“Well….” He hesitated slightly, not sure how she was going to take it, he fiddled a bit with her hair. 

“Doctor, Tell me!” She pressed him.

“She probably made it happen.” He mumbled, just loud enough for her to hear.

At first, she didn’t respond, processing what he was saying. At least that was what he assumed, he didn’t dare look up to confirm.

“How did she even do that? You... Me... _We!_ Both needed to...to....” His companion frowned.

“Timing it well, I’d imagine.” He answered. “And if you block the right nerve receptors, well...” He hoped she would be able to fill it in herself.

“She blocked out our needs until we were both bursting?” Martha checked.

The TARDIS hummed in confirmation, letting out a warm breeze flow over them in her way of showing affection.

“How though? We don’t exactly have the same limits.” 

The Time Lord just shrugged in response. “I don’t know all her methods. She is very good at timing though. Which is kinda natural for TARDISes.” He mused. “I’d imagine she just carefully monitored what type of fluids we consumed. That’s how I would go about it. That is if I would ever… err.” He flushed. “You know.” 

“It’s a bit of a change of pace, I guess.” She mused as she snuggled closer to him. “At least she gave us a bathroom this time. She normally isn’t so generous.”

The Time Lord let out a chuckle. “Yeah, she isn’t very fond of providing toilets when needed.”

“Really, you got one kinky ship, Mr Smith.” 

“Oh, I know.“ The Doctor let out a sigh. “Trust me.”

“Does that happen a lot?” Martha couldn’t help but question.

“What, her hiding the bathrooms?” The Time Lord frowned. “You know it does. Sure you experienced that yourself.”

“No, I mean, you know. Your ships being,” She hesitated slightly. “Like this.”

“I don’t know.” He admitted. “It’s not exactly something we discussed. Couldn’t really. We were quite prudish.”

“You aren’t” His companion rightfully pointed out.

The Doctor snorted. “Turns out spending a huge part of 5 centuries among humans who sprout out the most inappropriate things whenever does something to your point of view.”

“We’re not that bad!”

He smiled slightly to himself. “Oh trust me, from a Gallifreyan standpoint you lot are very very inappropriate. It was all really strict. ”

“Aight if you say so.” She said, slightly sceptical before sitting up a bit. “Maybe we should move. Before both of us fall asleep like this.”

“Don’t see why that would be such a bad thing.” He mumbled, lazily pulling her back to him. 

“Well, I for one don’t fancy working out the kinks of having slept on the hard ground, when there is a nice and soft bed available,” Martha stated, resisting his pull. 

“I quite like it here though.” He mumbled, in an, admittedly poor, attempt to convince her to stay, not wanting to lose her warmth.

Martha sighed slightly.

“Come on sleepyhead, we can still cuddle in bed.” Somehow she seemed to have guessed his problem. Well, him being as clingy as he was might’ve been a hint.

Reluctantly he complied with her silent request to let her go and sit up, rubbing the sleep out of his eye. “Yeah?”

“Of course.” She gave him a small peck on his cheek before standing up, offering him her hand to help him up as well. “Why wouldn’t we?”

The Time Lord smiled lazily at her.

She smiled back before getting a better grip on his hand and leading them to her bedroom.

To spend the night together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled with the ending of this chapter. I just kept writing stuff that just didn't work or would turn this thing even longer than it already is.
> 
> At one point I was just laying on my bed bouncing ideas on how to tackle this through my head and rejecting them, wishing I had a beta who I could bounce them off instead as that generally tends to work better.
> 
> The only thing that session resulted in, was me nearly nodding off despite actually blasting rather loud music over my speakers XD. Funnily enough, that did give me an idea for the fic, just not the ending. In the end, I figured out how to make this works after reading the low-key rejected parts I already had and managed to string this together with a nice bow.


	3. Discoveries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is. The actual story I originally wanted to write. If you didn't understand that from the previous two chapters were overgrown introductions/set-ups for this.  
>   
>  _Whoops._  
>   
>  Also, I've emigrated to my balcony. Where life is a lot better during the night in this current heat wave *sighs* I should go inside and melt in my bed.

Martha slowly awoke to the comforting hum of the TARDIS, slightly surprised that her sleep hadn’t been interrupted by a certain alien who seemed incapable of sitting still for more than an hour. Not that she was complaining, but it was unusual.

She threw back the duvet before climbing out her bed, because who would climb out of bed while still covered by their duvet?

She deciding to take a shower before hunting down some breakfast. 

* * *

After she was clean she put on a pair of jeans along with a wine-red t-shirt. She put her hair in a ponytail and put on her favourite black boots. Before making her way to the kitchen she checked herself out in the mirror and made sure that she looked perfect.

When she entered the kitchen she was surprised that the Time Lord wasn’t there. 

Martha frowned, in the three months she had lived here he had always been in the kitchen before her, enjoying a cuppa. He always made a cup for her as well, having it waiting on her. 

_It was always perfect._

She didn’t know how he did that. Apparently, he, at one point in his life, had mastered the art of tea making. If she could she’d have him make the tea, his was just so much better than hers.

There was no way he hadn’t realized that she kept making excuses, so he would be the one making tea instead of her, but he hadn’t complained about it yet, so she didn’t think he minded.

Today though, he wasn’t here. Which also meant no tea.

While wondering where he was, hoping he was okay, Martha just started making tea on her own, slightly disappointed but hoping that he was okay. She was pretty sure the time ship would alert her if that wasn't the case 

Honestly, he had spoiled her with making her tea so often. Surprisingly enough, it was one of the few things he did regardless of his mood. The only difference was that whenever he was in a distant mood he would just leave the tea for her to find instead of giving it to her personally. She always found it while it was still hot, courtesy of the TARDIS. But she definitely preferred it when he gave her a cup himself, especially because he always joined her.

Breakfast was always an exception, regardless of his mood he was always there. Just quieter and more broody when he was in a bad mood.

It felt weird to sit down with her breakfast and cuppa all alone, she hadn’t had breakfast on her own in months. Ever since she joined the TARDIS, really. 

As she was eating her toast she noticed just how quiet it was. Not just because of his absence, though that caused some silence as well, he loved the sound of his own voice and often used breakfast to describe what they would be doing for that day. She didn’t mind him doing that though, she loved listening to his voice.

Not that she was ever going to tell him that, his ego was big enough as it was.

No, it was more than just that though. Something was missing, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. 

_Until it clicked._

It was the TARDIS, she wasn’t humming as vibrantly as she normally was. Martha focused on the ship, trying to gauge if something was wrong. 

Now she focused on it, she could sense the excitement of the ship and something else that she couldn’t entirely place. 

_Anticipation?_

The TARDIS being in a mood like that usually meant she was up to something. 

_A very specific sort of something._

Taking a sip of her tea Martha wondered just what the time ship was up to. As normal, she decided to just take it as it went, nothing else she could do really.

After clearing the table she decided to go and find the Time Lord, he still hadn’t shown his face, and she was starting to get worried. Though the fact that his ship seemed anything but worried helped to placate her a bit.

* * *

Apparently, the TARDIS wasn’t in the mood to help her, among other things she came across the media room, the movie theatre, the same storage closest she had found when she had been exploring the corridors with The Doctor last week.

“Why are you like this?” She mumbled as she once again took in the … accessories decorating the shelf. “You know perfectly well that I don’t need anything from here.” With a shake of the head, she closed the door again. “Unfortunately.”

Sighing she continued down the corridor again. Maybe she should just abandon her search for her alien roommate, it was obvious that the TARDIS didn’t want her to find him.

Whether that was in aid of him or just to inconvenience her she didn’t know. If she was honest though, she didn’t particularly care about the reasoning. It was just obvious that the Time Lord wasn't going to show himself for a while yet.

Well, if he was so intent on not taking her out for the day she could go and enjoy herself on the TARDIS just fine.

_Provided the ancient Time Ship would let her._

Having made up her mind she stalked off in the direction of her bedroom, planning to change out of her jeans into something more comfortable.

As she was talking towards her bedroom she was contemplating what she would do with her free day, if he dared to protest this later she would make sure he would regret it.

Martha opened her bedroom door and to her surprise didn’t see her bedroom upon opening the door.

What she did see was a certain Time Lord she had just spend half an hour looking for. He was busy with... well... she wasn’t sure what that was. Her first thought was that it was some sort of puzzle, but that probably wasn’t it.

His head shot up, startled by her entrance, and let out a distressed yelp.

“Martha!” He squeaked out. “What are you doing here!?”

“Well, I was just goi- Are you okay?” She asked as she noticed how flustered he looked.

The Time Lord nodded, before answering her query. “Yep! Perfectly fine. Just dandy.” His voice sounded a bit forced.

Disbelieving his claim, Martha raised her eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

He nodded enthusiastically, obviously trying to convince her. “Yeah, absolutely sure.” She noticed that he was squirming around on his chair.

As she pondered the situation over she noticed the room they were in. She recognized it as the room they had seen while exploring the TARDIS last week. 

_The one he had been so secretive about._

If she hadn’t been sure he had lied back then before, seeing him actually using the room confirmed that he definitely knew whatever this room was supposed to be used for.

“Do you need the loo?” She asked as she couldn’t ignore how much he was squirming.

At her question, he stiffened.

“No.”

Martha was honestly surprised at how innocent he made that sound. However, she knew him well enough by now to know that he was lying. With the way, he was moving it was obvious he was bursting for a pee. She knew his tells by now. 

She wondered why he was lying about it though, he hadn’t hidden the need for her in months. Martha had thought that he finally had learned that it was perfectly fine to speak up about his needs.

Or not quite, as seemed to be the case now. Martha frowned, opening her mouth to confront him about it before suddenly she became aware of the TARDIS’ mood again.

_It hadn't been for her!_

_“Oh!”_ She breathed out in realization, and she noticed him stiffen in his chair at that.

Suddenly it all clicked. Suddenly she understood his reluctance to tell her what the room was used for. Suddenly she knew what had excited the TARDIS.

_Suddenly, it all made sense._

And while she still wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing, she understood now that whatever he was doing. 

_Was private._

“Right,” She scrambled for something to say. But really what could you say when walking on what effectively was your roommate doing… whatever it was that he was doing. “Okay, well. I’m going to read in the library, come find me once you’re done.” She instructed him before stalking out of the room, giving him the privacy he probably craved.

* * *

The Doctor was trying his hardest to drown himself in the shower, without much success. There was no way he could face Martha after what happened. However, he knew perfectly well that just hiding from her forever wasn’t a valid option. And like mentioned before drowning himself wasn’t working either. 

He was going to have to face her sooner rather than later.

With a sigh, he turned off the shower. He had been in there way too long, even his skin would eventually turn wrinkly from the water, and that had long since happened.

He still didn’t understand how it could've happened, normally he would be long done with his session by the time his companion woke up. But this time he had missed that by a long shot. Not only that but Martha had somehow found the room as he was there doing... 

_Yeah, how would you even describe that?_

After towelling himself dry he threw on a pair of pants before putting on some grey sweatpants, not feeling like getting properly dressed and going out for the day. His puzzle session with the TARDIS as always had taken a lot out of him, normally he was done with these sessions in the middle of the night, allowing him a couple of hours of rest before the next adventure. Not this time but after the earlier incident he really didn’t feel like going out. He was sure he could somehow sell that plan to Martha.

_If she would still speak to him after what she saw._

She had instructed him to find her before fleeing out of the room, which implied that she would talk to him.

By now she would’ve had some processing time though, more than enough time to realize just how disgusting he really was. Martha probably had already packed her bags and the only reason she told him to find her, was, so she could be off his ship as quick as possible.

The TARDIS hummed comfortingly, concerned for her pilot who, in her humble opinion, was overthinking the issue way too much. Something he was very prone to in this regeneration.

Taking a deep breath the Doctor tried to force his feeling of panic and hurt down, he didn’t want to lose his companion. 

_He liked having her around._

No, what he was going to have to do was convince her he wasn’t just a creepy old man.

_He just wasn't quite sure about the how._

* * *

Martha sat in the library reading a large medical tome on Gallifreyan biology, the old-time ship had deemed it important for her to be able to treat her pilot. Which was a reasonable conclusion, considering how accident prone he was.

She wasn’t sure whether the Doctor knew that his ship had given her this book. She wasn’t about to ask him, he would find out when needed if he didn’t.

He would probably complain about it for a total of 5 minutes before caving in under her and the TARDIS’ arguments and agreeing that it was a good idea. 

She got pulled out of her studies when the door of the library opened admitting the other living being to the room. 

Well if you didn’t count the countless animals that inhabited the TARDIS in some way. But really, she somehow couldn’t imagine ever witnessing a sheep entering the library while carrying what appeared to be a cup of tea.

She chuckled slightly at the mental image, she’d like to see a sheep try that. Although, on second thought, maybe not, it would probably result in a huge mess.

_Maybe if she could get someone else to clean it._

“I made you tea.” The Time Lord stammered. pulling her out of her thoughts again.

Martha couldn’t keep herself from raising an eyebrow at that, she hadn’t seen him this nervous since their visit to Fefe. They had been on a guided holiday trip, which admittedly was rare for them, and he had been unable to use the toilet at the hotel they had stayed at on the night he needed to and had been too embarrassed to speak up. This had resulted in him bursting for a pee halfway through the day. 

It had taken her longer than she’d like to realize what was bothering him. That had been a close call. 

This time, there was no way he still needed to go after earlier. He wasn’t moving nearly enough for that to be an issue. And, if she was honest, with how desperate he had looked she hadn’t expected him to last much longer.

Furthermore, she imagined that he finished whatever he had been doing before coming here.

“Thanks.” She accepted the tea after putting her book down onto the coffee table next to her. “What is this for?” She wondered.

He tugged at his ear. “I didn’t make one earlier and well-“ He shifted nervously on the spot, not quite meeting her eyes.

“It’s you who started doing that. You have no obligations whatsoever to make me tea.” She informed him before taking a sip. “Doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate it though.”

“I’m sorry.” He murmured, almost too soft for her to hear.

“For what?” Martha frowned, genuinely confused.

“Well.. for… err..” He flustered. “You know.”

_And suddenly she knew._

This had to be about what she had walked in on earlier. He must be afraid of what she thought of what she saw.

Well, that wouldn't do.

“Alright, come here.” Martha patted the space on the couch next to her. She had originally planned on not addressing it and just act as if it hadn’t happened. This is what she would've wished would be done if someone walked in on her. But she couldn’t justify that if he was like this.

The Time Lord stared at her for a few seconds, seemingly processing her simple request. “Yeah? You sure?”

_Oh hell, he was never this insecure._

He normally just plopped down wherever he pleased, not caring about whether others would want him there or not.

She just patted the empty spot again in emphasis, they were going to have to work through this quickly as possible. Martha didn't think she could stand the Time Lord acting like this for long.

Moving slowly he awkwardly sat down next to her, she hadn’t seen him this tense in a long time.

Martha sighed slightly grabbing his hand “Relax, I’m not going to bite.” She instructed him softly. 

The effect was minimal, he only unclenched slightly, but grabbed her hand back.

As she was rubbing comforting circles in the back of his hand she started to talk.

“It’s fine you know. You're allowed your strange hobbies.” She told him, soothingly. 

“Really?” He looked so hopeful, though she could see a blush going down his neck. 

“‘Course. As long as you don’t hurt anyone with it, it’s none of my business.” She levelled her gaze with him, talking to him sternly. “That does include yourself.” 

“No, err... The TARDIS keeps track of my body.” He took a nervous breath. “She makes sure we don’t overdo it.” The Time Lord looked shyly at her. “You sure you’re fine with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She questioned.

“I mean, it’s just-” He hesitated.

“Look if you don’t want me to think you’re weird, you’re way too late for that. Came to that conclusion on day 1.” Martha smiled cheekily at him.

He chuckled at that, finally relaxing a bit more. “Fair enough.”

Now they had finally sorted that Martha went back to enjoying her tea, taking another sip she suddenly realized that the Time Lord didn’t have a cup of his own like he normally would have.

“I’m not allowed to have any liquids for the next few hours.” He told her when she asked, shifting a bit uncomfortably.

“Why not?”

“You know what I said about the TARDIS looking out for me?” The Time Lord looked at her, eyes almost begging for her to understand.

It took her a few seconds before what he said clicked.

“I’m not sure if being careful involves being banned from drinking anything for a few hours to avoid water poisoning.” She stated.

“I’m not that close to water poisoning.” He exclaimed, affronted, before sighing. “But still, slightly over hydrated. Don’t want to put myself in risk.”

“Must be tempting, I know you like your tea.” She teased slightly before taking another drink of her tea.

He stared at the cup watching her for a bit before looking away. “A bit. Normally it isn’t an issue. Often finish somewhere in the middle of the night and then just grab a couple of hours of sleep. By the time I wake up I'm usually allowed liquids again.”

Considering how nervous he had been before, it was slightly surprising how open he was about it now.

Apparently being assured that it was fine did wonders for that.

“You missed the middle of the night by quite some margin there.” Martha pointed out, “How did that even happen?”

“Dunno, but the TARDIS probably has an idea. At the very least.” He glared pointedly at the ceiling. "She is in control of things like that."

And suddenly it all clicked. _Again._

“She wanted me to find out!” She let out a breath as that revelation set in. Deep down she had already known that. But she hadn't quite acknowledged that, yet.

“Should’ve known that she was going to do that when she first showed you that room.” The Doctor grumbled a bit. 

“You lied to me!” She turned on him, accusingly.

The Time Lord rose an eyebrow at her. “You didn’t believe me for a second.”

"That wasn’t one of your better lies, mister.”

“I know. I panicked.” He admitted with a sigh.

“That was obvious.” Martha agreed. “I could tell that you wanted to keep that private, though. That’s why I didn’t call you out.” She rolled her head towards him. “Next time, just be honest and tell me that it’s private. I’m not about to begrudge you your private things.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He shuffled a bit uncomfortable, playing with the fabric of his sweatpants.

“We’re going to stay in for the rest of the day?” She guessed.

“Is that alright?” Looking surprisingly insecure about his wish. She didn’t think she had ever seen him have a down day like this, but honestly, she couldn’t blame him.

_If anyone was allowed to have a bad day, it was him._

_“_ Of course it is, come here.” She pulled his head on her lap, him manoeuvring to lie down on the couch. As soon as he was settled she started stroking his hair. She had learned a while back that he liked the feeling of her running her hand through his hair and that it calmed him down effectively.

It didn’t take long before he let out a hum in contentment, or, in other words, he started purring. While she normally would point that out and tease him, she decided that right now was not the moment. _He deserved some happiness._

“We’re going to have to sort out dinner though.” She remembered.

“I’m sure we’ll manage, the TARDIS should help with that.” He mumbled in response, shifting a bit to get more comfortable.

The TARDIS let out a hum in confirmation, telling both humanoids that she would help with dinner.

* * *

“We’re going to have to go out for groceries tomorrow though. We’re almost out of milk, among other things.” She stated after a few more minutes of silence. “Doctor?” She frowned as she didn’t get any response from the Time Lord.

A glance down confirmed that said Time Lord had been pulled into the land of dreams.

Martha smiled slightly, shaking her head fondly. Rightly concluding he must be tired from his earlier activities. Putting down her long since empty cup on the table, she grabbed the book on Time Lord biology she had been reading before he had come in. Letting him sleep for a while.

_He deserved that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last scene is the definition of cringe. But I wanted things to be discussed and have them come to an understanding.  
>   
>  **THIS ISN'T THAT.**  
>   
>  But it's the next best thing and the best thing I could come up with, so deal with it.
> 
> Honestly, writing this made me realise how badly I do not want to discuss this kind of thing with anyone.
> 
> Also, I want to apologise to David Tennant. Not that he will ever read this. But yk I kinda wanted to put that out there as my fics slowly move into...
> 
> Well, whatever they are moving into.


End file.
